Banana Bread & French Toast

Banana Bread. I could eat it any time of the day. Although it takes about 45 minutes to bake, it is well worth the wait. I've been using the same recipe for years. Fresh from the oven and topped with butter is just so yummy!!! And if you've ever had my momma's bread, she makes a sweet creamy glaze that's poured over the top and it's so delicious.

When I heard about how Ihop makes banana bread french toast, I mean....shazaaam! Can you think of a better combination??

Nat's Banana Bread
1 stick butter (softened, not melted)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3-4 medium bananas mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk at home, you can substitute with 1 tsp of vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup)
2 1/2 cups flour (self rising)

Grease the bottoms of 2, 8" loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together 1 stick of softened butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix until well blended. Add bananas, milk, and vanilla. Slowly stir in flour until it's just blended.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden on top and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Vanilla Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tsp milk

Mix all ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle.

For the French toast:
Slice bread to 1" thick slices

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 Tb sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Butter or Oil
Sliced bread

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt with wire whisk until smooth.
Heat butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Dip bread into egg mixture. Place in skillet. Cook about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Pita chips

One of the girls from the office brought in homemade spinach dip and a cucumber dill dip today. It made me want to whip up a batch of these pita chips.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 whole-wheat pitas, cut into 1/8's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine olive oil and spices in a large bowl. Add pita wedges and toss to coat, Spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, tossing once, or until pita is brown and crispy. Cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Walnut bread with Cream Cheese filling

I love the way my house smells when a loaf of bread is baking and Lord have mercy, this pumpkin bread is AHHHHmazing. My favorite part is eating a nice thick slice topped with butter.

This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, but I wanted to make one loaf and a dozen muffins, so I could share with the office.

Here's what you do....

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounce package softened cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Pumpkin Bread:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter two 9" loaf pans.

Cream Cheese Filling: Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and mix slightly. Stir in the flour. Set aside.

Pumpkin Bread: In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla, and walnuts.

Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix, the bread will come out too tough.

Divide the batter in half. Take one half and divide it evenly between the two prepared pans. Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half of filling on top the two pans of batter, smoothing the tops. Top with the remaining half of batter. Bake the breads for about 50 minutes, or until cooked through.

Allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator.